Best Ever
by ColieMacKenzie
Summary: He blinks, only now becoming aware that all the lights are off in his loft, even the entry light he usually leaves on. Instead his whole apartment lies dark... My entry for the 12th Precinct Halloween fanfiction contest.


**BEST EVER**

**AN: **My entry to the 12th Precinct Halloween fanfiction contest. Winner of ... absolutely nothing! mwuahahaaaaa! Happy Halloween everybody! :)

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Okay. So. This is weird.

His front door barely opens. He really has to push, throw his whole weight against it for it to budge, and when it finally gives, it squeaks and creaks ominously in its hinges. What is wrong with this thing?

Castle shoulders inside, immediately squeaks in an unmanly fashion when something stringy and sticky itches across his face. Ugh, gross, gross! He flails his arms like an impaired ninja, tries to wipe the thin, gluey strands off his forehead and hair. What is… are those _spider webs_? In his home? Gross. He shudders.

"Kate?" He calls into the darkness, her name almost echoing through the space but there is no answer; everything stays eerily silent.

He blinks, only now becoming aware that all the lights are off in his loft, even the entry light he usually leaves on. Instead his whole apartment lies dark; he can barely see anything except for a greenish, eerie glow that seems to float through the space.

Blinking a few more times, his eyes slowly seem to adapt to the gloom around him and he can make out a few silhouettes and shadows. He squints. Is that… a tree? Where his entry is usually a wide-open space, all sorts of shapes are now blocking his way. He steps closer, carefully reaches out a hand because who knows if something will come forth snapping at his fingers but all remains quiet, not a sound ripples through the ghostly quiet in the loft.

He touches his fingertips to what appears like the trunk of a tree. Plastic or papier-mâché, it looks like but yes, that's definitely supposed to be a tree. He looks up, finds branches and fake leaves hanging over his head, knotting together with more branches from what looks like another tree just a couple of steps next to him. Forming a type of arch… or a path?

Castle drops his eyes to the ground and then he sees them, small pebbles that are glowing in bright orange, illuminating what appears to be a pathway that vanishes into the depths of the darkened space of his home. A skeleton forearm with its hand is stuck to the edge of the path, the bony index finger pointing into the darkness.

He grins, falling to his knees. Guess he's supposed to follow the path.

He starts crawling forward. Squeaking, scratching sounds of critters suddenly sound from all around him and his heart stumbles for a moment. Then he laughs at himself; he's being silly, right? It's just his loft.

He keeps moving forward, following the narrow path that winds toward what he thinks is through his kitchen. He hates to admit it but he's already lost a bit of his orientation. In his own home!

Something wet and ugh, slimy brushes across his face and he squeals again, and hopes nobody heard that. A gravestone sits by the side of the path, a bloody hand sticking up from the ground as if grasping for him to help.

The narrow pathway is blocking his sight of everything around him; he has no clue where even his furniture is within this whole setup. He pokes out a finger, feels something soft against his fingertips. A blanket maybe?

It's a blanket fort! A big, elaborate Halloween blanket fort.

His own magical, creepy ghost Halloween forest.

Wow.

He stops, sits for a moment, his heart hammering in his chest as he takes it all in. Nobody has ever, _ever_ gone out of their way to create something this spectacular just for him.

_Kate._ He knows she did this, without a doubt. That woman truly is extraordinary. He always knew it but since he got to know her so intimately, it only ever gets reinforced. By everything she does, the ways she challenges him, laughs with him, loves him, smiles at him.

And now she's built him his own Halloween maze. Because he loves Halloween.

He swallows the lump in his throat that threatens to water his eyes. He really is getting soft. But wow yeah, for her… He smiles, imagines her hiding somewhere, waiting gleefully for his reaction. Her smile wide and teasing, but so filled with happiness and uncensored love. And he can do this to her, make her this happy. It's like a gift that he treasures beyond anything.

He starts crawling forward again, at once eager to see what all awaits him, and to find her at the end of it.

Ghoulish sounds emanate from corners when he circles around, squeaks and howls and zombie growls. His hands step in wet, slimy things. Things brush past him, coming out of nowhere, like thin ghosts. There is blood dripping, mangled body parts strewn along the way. Spider webs stick to him like glue. Fake critters seem to crawl over him, there are light and sound effects, gravestones and witches and zombies and ghosts.

This is the most awesome thing ever!

The path winds through his place; he didn't even know he had this much space in his home but it goes on and on, and he has to feel and find his way forward with the orange glow lights only occasionally pointing him in the right direction. He crawls along, dodges things coming at him, jumps in surprise. His heart hammers and sometimes he does squeak in a rather unmanly fashion but this is just awesome and fun and creepy and the best surprise ever.

The path now seems to come to an end; he stops, can't quite figure out where he's supposed to go next or what to do.

A weight lands on top of him and he groans, drops to the ground.

"Surprise," Kate whispers against the shell of his ear, her breath teasing his skin and he shudders in anticipation, turns around underneath her.

She sits astride him, only illuminated by the green and orange glow lights that surround them but he can still make out the wide, happy smile that shines on her face. Her hair tumbles down in large waves and he is a bit surprised, almost expected her to be dressed up in a fitting costume as well but now he's glad she isn't because she is so breathtakingly gorgeous.

Her fingers run teasing circles over his pecs and his insides flutter, his skin immediately alive and heated under her touch.

"Did you like it?" She smiles, that tender touch of shyness in her eyes that he's now so intimately familiar with but how could she ever doubt how amazing this is, how amazing _she_ is.

He grins, runs his fingers down the side of her neck to tug her closer. "Best surprise ever."

She resists his hand though, wiggles out of his grasp to sit up straight atop his hips. "Hmm, really?" Her fingers dance up his chest, circle over his shoulders and up his neck to come play with the strands of his hair. "I think I can do you one better."

He grins; there's no way, he can't imagine anything that would top this but then Kate plays her fingers over his forehead and he can't think; all thoughts vacating his brain like they always do when she touches him, smiles at him like this.

She paints the rim of his cheekbones, his nose, his jaw with wide brushstrokes of her thumb, slides the pads over his bottom lip as if she learns him by touch alone. Her eyes are wide, luminous. Earnest.

"Will you marry me?"

His heart stops beating for a moment, and then it starts hammering in his chest, leaping excitedly in his throat. She's worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, seems to have stopped breathing as she waits for his answer, as if she's worried what his answer might be.

As if there was ever any question.

He grins, the smile spreading wide across his cheeks, elated and pleased and stunned and so excited, he can barely contain it. Wrapping his arms around her back he sits up, tucks her tightly into his embrace, his face nudged into the welcoming cradle of her neck. Needs to soak in her slender body, the wonderful softness of her skin, her enticing scent, this astonishing reality, the magic of this moment.

He's been wanting to ask her, wants to never have to spend time without her ever again, but he didn't want to overwhelm her, or push her, and so he's waited, looking to find the elusive signs whether she might be ready and now she's asked him.

She built him a Halloween creepy ghost forest to ask him to marry her.

Kate wants to marry him. Wants to spend the rest of her life with _him_ and it's the most amazing, extraordinary thing and he can barely breathe, it is so very overwhelming.

"Castle," she urges, pleads. He lifts his face to hers, finds her beautiful eyes, wide and shining, with love and need and nervousness. He needs to see her, watch her when he answers. His heart hammers but there's no doubt, only certainty that rushes through his blood.

"Yes." He nudges her nose with his, runs his palms around her neck to hold her close and her eyelids flutter, her body pliable, falling into him as she exhales a relieved breath.

"Yes of course." Kisses her soft, sweet lips, once, twice.

"Yes. Yes. Always yes."

Best surprise _ever_.

_End_


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